The invention relates to a device for the pre-programmable infusion of liquids into the human or animal body, particularly for the administration of insulin in diabetes therapy, consisting of a microdosing unit for the liquid as well as a control device as a program transmitter for the microdosing unit. Thereby, the microdosing unit for the liquid can be implanted in the body together with or separate from the control device or can also be carried externally on the body surface.
In diabetes therapy, it is desirable to continuously infuse insulin into the body of the patient in varying installments, because the need of the diabetic for insulin during the day is subject to great fluctuations, determined, for example, by the rhythm of the meals. It has been shown that--as long as no infusion devices that regulate themselves automatically by means of glucose sensors are available--the delivery of insulin should best ensue according to a daily profile that can be individually adjusted and pre-programmed for the patient. Thereby, it is possible, in a device of the type initially cited, to allocate memory means for a prescribable control program at least to the control device for the microdosing unit, whereby the control program is pre-programmable in discrete time steps corresponding to the 24-hour daily sequence at an external programming device and the control device is electrically connected to the programming device or a program carrier, respectively, solely for the transfer of the pre-programmed control program. Such a device has the advantage that the pre-programming of the daily profile can be carried out in a simple and clear manner by the physician; for example, such devices can then be used when, during a longer examining period when the patient is in the hospital under the supervision of the physician, an optimum daily infusion profile for a subsequent infusion installation to be completely implanted or also for a later, standard injection therapy is to be ascertained. However, in this case the patient in general has no direct access for altering the pre-programmed dosage and is, therefore, bound to a relatively regular daily course with the ingestion of his meals predetermined both in terms of time and amount.
In certain cases of diabetes, however, binding the patient to a regular daily course is not absolutely necessary. Based on the constitution of the patient, it can be possible that the patient can pursue a relatively irregular daily course insofar as the necessary insulin doses are administered to him at the necessary times at meals. In such a case, therefore, the constraint of the patient to the daily profile of the pre-programmed insulin administration is unnecessary and can even become a burden for the patient.